ARTICLES ABOUT BETH'S ALBUM "OUT OF SEASON"

Further proof that Beth Gibbons is genius, if Portishead didn’t give you enough proof of that already. With a new Portishead album in the making, and a five-year gap since we last heard from Bristol’s gods of trip-hop, this album is a supreme answer to the question on everyone’s lips: what have Portishead been doing all this time?
Teaming up with ex-Talk Talk member Paul Webb, Gibbon’s side project Out of Season is arguably one of the best recordings of her career. Her icy-thin voice is given new prominence on this dreamy jazzy orchestrated choral masterpiece of an album. The crescendo of violins beautifully accompanies her voice alongside an absolutely wonderful addition of a haunting, soaring chorus.
The characteristic delicacy of Gibbon’s voice is piercingly lovely in Mysteries’ dreamy choral infused reverie. Tom the Model is perhaps the most Portishead-like track, opening with a mournful warble from Gibbons and then launches into a horn, chorus and violin backed moody waltz. Resolve is a surprisingly earthy track, featuring a deeper more folksy-sounding Gibbons with a simple plucking guitar, creating a beautifully elegant and troubled sounding drifting song. Romance is absolutely gorgeous. Gibbons’ warble sounds more like Billy Holiday than ever, the choral background reaches an addictively haunting crescendo and the rich horns and waltzy taunting pace sounds stunning. If you buy one album this year, make it this one.

Jessica Gliddon

By the end of this breathtaking experience, we have an album that can be put in the same quality bracket as “Dummy” and "Portishead". “Out Of Season” may be a one-off, and it may not “fit” neatly into any category, but what we have is a late contender for Album of the Year.

Ciarαn Ryan